Commitment to Inclusion
At the IED, we believe diversity and inclusion are at the core of our vision and mission. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture that supports and empowers our members, staff and volunteers. We celebrate the power of our diverse community to create a better world.
Transparency and Accountability
Our policies have been developed to ensure transparency and accountability. You can find our policies here. Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Policy – Institution of Engineering Designers
Why EDI is important?
ED&I Benefits for Design, Engineering and Business:
Attracting and Retaining the Best Talent:
Designers and engineers perform best where they feel comfortable, valued, and free to share their ideas. If they do not feel supported, they will move on. With fierce competition for talent, many sectors, particularly SMEs, already face challenges attracting and retaining the best people.
Innovation and Creativity:
Diverse viewpoints, experiences, and insights help solve problems and create better products and services. This is especially important when designing for diverse markets across different cultures, locations, and user needs.
Reputational Risk:
An un-inclusive or toxic environment can seriously damage a company’s reputation. Negative EDI experiences can harm workplace culture and affect relationships with customers, suppliers, sponsors, and investors.
Enhanced Financial Performance:
Better decision-making and more inclusive teams lead to stronger products, services, and financial performance. Studies by Forbes, Deloitte and McKinsey support this. In the UK, the Royal Academy of Engineering’s EDI Engine report (2024) further highlights the business benefits of EDI in engineering.
EDI & Strong Performers
Not all, but some people from under-represented groups have had to push hard to achieve success. This has sometimes involved overcoming hurdles, solving problems, dealing with experiences that others may have not. This often breeds resilience, determination, a focus on excellence, high quality and amiability. These same characteristics make for high performers, leadership potential and people who are investable
What the IED is doing about ED&I
The IED ED&I Survey
Understanding where we are
The IED launched its first ED&I survey in 2021 to establish a baseline understanding of its membership. Recognising that meaningful progress starts with clear insight, the survey aimed to identify who we attract, who is represented in decision-making roles, and where gaps exist.
Tracking progress over time
Follow-up surveys in 2023 and 2025 have built on this foundation. Together, these datasets allow the Institution to identify trends, measure progress, and better understand the evolving needs of its members.
Informing future action
These insights support the development of strategies to ensure the IED is as inclusive, representative, and welcoming as possible. Further details and analysis are regularly shared in Engineering Designer.
IED²
Driving ED&I forward
IED² is the Institution’s dedicated ED&I Committee. Originally formed as a working group in 2021, it was established to address the key ED&I challenges facing the IED and to guide ongoing progress.
Guided by best practice
The Committee has adopted the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework, using this alongside the Academy’s support to shape the IED’s approach and direction.
Embedded across the Institution
Fully supported by Council, ED&I is embedded across the IED’s governance and communications. The Committee Chair sits on the Board, updates are included in the Annual Report and AGM, and ED&I features regularly across Engineering Designer and digital channels. The Committee remains active, developing initiatives and resources to support both the Institution and its members.
To get involved or find out more, contact: ied@ied.org.uk
Member Case Studies
Celebrating diverse journeys
To mark the IED’s 80th anniversary, members were invited to share their stories, from their routes into professional design to their experiences within the Institution.
Showcasing our community
These case studies highlight the breadth of backgrounds, perspectives, and career paths across the IED, reflecting the diversity of the profession and the people within it.
Explore their stories
A selection of these case studies is available to explore on our website.
Useful Organisations & Resources
- STAMMA
- Equality & Human Rights Commission
- Association for Black and Minority-Ethnic Engineers
- InterEngineering
- Women in Science and Engineering
- Women's Engineering Society
- EngineeringUK
- The Brain Charity
- Disability Rights UK
- Liberty
- Stonewall
- ACAS
- Race Equality Matters
- Government Equalities Office
- Equally Ours
- Refugee Employment Network
STAMMA exists to create a world that makes space for stammering. Where a stammer is embraced as just a difference. Where no-one judges us on our stammer or the way we choose to deal with it.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission. It is the independent advocate for equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights.
AFBE-UK promotes higher achievements in education and engineering particularly among people from black and minority ethnicity (BME) backgrounds. AFBE-UK’s mission is to showcase the technical talent available within the BME community and support the growth of the wider community.
To connect, inform and empower LGBTQ+ engineers and their supports to foster greater inclusion in engineering.
Our aim is to be the partner of choice for organisations that want to make real, sustainable improvement to gender balance in STEM roles in the UK by providing products and services to organisations to accelerate cultural change and increase gender balance in STEM.
The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) is a charitable company, founded in 1919 to support women in engineering. Over 100 years later, WES still operates as a Membership Society, promoting the education of women in engineering and advancing the education of the public concerning the study and practice of engineering among women.
The UK’s engineering sector is considerably less diverse than the general population, meaning many groups are underrepresented in the workforce. With diversity of talent, comes the diversity of thought that is needed to solve the challenges and drive the innovations of the future.
Our research looks at the current and potential future talent pool with a focus on gender and social mobility. We look at the make-up of the engineering workforce, analyse differences in perceptions of engineering, access to engineering careers information and educational attainment in pathways into engineering.
https://www.engineeringuk.com/research-policy/diversity-in-engineering/diversity-in-engineering/
Training and support for those with and working with neurodiversity in all forms, including brain injury.
About The Brain Charity
Training and support for employees and employers with regards to disability rights and access
Liberty is an independent membership organisation. We challenge injustice, defend freedom and campaign to make sure everyone in the UK is treated fairly.
We are campaigners, lawyers and policy experts who work together to protect rights and hold the powerful to account.
Together we’ve been making the UK a fairer, more equal place since 1934.
At Stonewall, we stand for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people everywhere. We imagine a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves and we can live our lives to the full.
We are part of a vibrant global movement for change made up of LGBTQ+ people, our allies, families and friends. Since day one, we’ve fought for freedom, for equity and for potential.
Acas gives employees and employers free, impartial advice on workplace rights, rules and best practice. We also offer training and help to resolve disputes.
https://www.acas.org.uk/improving-equality-diversity-and-inclusion/making-your-workplace-inclusive
Race Equality Matters is a not for profit community interest company (CIC)aims to improve workplace equality across the public, private and charity sectors through a collaboration of companies, race networks, field experts, individuals and allies who will create solutions and work with member organisations to implement the change. Race Equality Matters was founded in 2020, in response to Black Lives Matter movement, by Green Park, Black History Month and The Collaboratory, with support from partners including Diversity UK, Rare Recruitment, The Governance Forum, Diversity Dashboard & The Diversity Digest.
GEO has produced summary guides setting out what the new laws will mean for the voluntary sector. These guides have been prepared in partnership with the British Chambers of Commerce, Citizens Advice and the Equality and Diversity Forum, to support implementation of the Act.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-equalities-office/about
Equally Ours
Equally Ours (previously the Equality and Diversity Forum) is a UK charity that brings together people and organisations working across equality, human rights and social justice to make a reality of these in everyone’s lives. Equally Ours started out in 2002 as a pan-equality meeting of experts to replace the then Equal Opportunities Commission, Commission for Racial Equality and Disability Rights Commission. It is an influential network that successfully made the case for improving protections for everyone, resulting in the Equality Act 2010 – the biggest single shake-up of the UK’s equality laws.
The Refugee Employment Network is the UK’s only national network dedicated exclusively to refugee employment. It’s our mission to ensure that all refugees can access appropriate, fulfilling and paid employment or self-employment in the UK. REN has a specific programme aimed at the engineering sector.